National Enquirer cuts deal with DOJ, FBI, claiming Trump campaign paid off Karen McDougal during campaign
The parent company of the National Enquirer has admitted to federal prosecutors that “its principal purpose” in paying former Playboy Playmate Karen McDougal $150,000 ahead of the 2016 election was to “suppress” her story about an alleged affair with Donald Trump for the explicit purpose of improving the then-candidate’s chances of victory.
On Wednesday, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York announced that American Media Inc. (AMI) has also admitted that the payment was made in concert with Trump’s presidential campaign.
As part of the deal, AMI offered “substantial and important assistance” in federal prosecutors’ investigation into payments made to McDougal, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors said that AMI has cooperated with the U.S. Attorney and the FBI and has agreed to continue to do so.
In a statement, the SDNY said, “Assuming AMI’s continued compliance with the agreement, the Office has agreed not to prosecute AMI for its role in that payment.”
The agreement, which was previously reached but had not been reported until Wednesday, explains that Michael Cohen and “another campaign official” met with AMI chairman David Pecker to arrange the cover-up back in August of 2015.
As Trump does, he turned to Twitter:
“Democrats can’t find a Smocking Gun tying the Trump campaign to Russia after James Comey’s testimony. No Smocking Gun…No Collusion.” @FoxNews That’s because there was NO COLLUSION. So now the Dems go to a simple private transaction, wrongly call it a campaign contribution,…
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 10, 2018
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